Day 3 - Testing things out

Once again I raise early, take a quick bath and eat my breakfast. It seems my theory is right, after a full night of sleep my (MP) is full again, my (HP) had not diminish before but I guess the same will hold true after a night of sleep it should be full again.

Before going to the governance hall, I'll take my robe to the jeweler and see how much it will cost to upgrade it a bit. Even though the name suggest that a jeweler is someone who sells jewelry, in actuality they are in charge of enchanting equipment. The material used is expensive and they have to study a lot before they can actually enchant equipment, so I'm not expecting this to be cheap. I still have some of the stipend but I don't want to use it all on the robe when I still have to buy many other supplies.

The jeweler was surprised of the equipment with such good qualities and of such high level, I explained what I needed done. He told me that it was possible however the job would cost no less than 10,000 zeniths and that there will be a 45% that the robe got destroyed in the process. With a chance that high that the robe got destroyed and with such a high cost I rather not risk it, I'll keep it like this for now.

I went right ahead to the governance hall library where the elder was already waiting for me, he had selected a few tomes on water magic spells and a basic tome of each of the other elements, but first I was to read a tome related to the introduction to magic.

I learned about minorum, how they come to be and their limitations. What I found weird was that even for seed learning them was not a simple matter of getting the word and saying it out loud, so I learning "Identify" was because of my [Learn] skill, that is interesting I wonder what else my skill can achieve, I will have to test it further.

After that I learned about spells, how to learn them, their uses, cost and restrictions. It seems even if you are a wizard you can just learn a spell by reading it and practicing, you need to be the required level at least, have enough (MP) to cast it once and to have enough {skill points}. I remember I have 3 {status points} and many {Learning points} but nothing called {skill points}.

When I asked the elder I found out that as they level up the seeds get 3 {status points} and 10 {skill points}, a minorum usually cost 1 {skill point} while a spell usually cost between 5 and 20 {skill points}, also I found out that there is a higher category of magic, called majorum which are super spells of mythological level and the cheapest one of those is 50 {skill points} but can go up to 200 {skill points} for the majority of the other ones.

It dawned on me that the elder used minorum and they are supposedly able to cast spells and some even rumored to be able to use majorum, so how do they do it? I remember someone mentioning the Arcanum. I asked the elder about this but all he said was that I was to learn many things during my year here and one of these was about the elders and how they came to be.

Feeling it was no use pressing the matter further I continue reading the books. Of course my interest was on the flashy spells from the fire tome, I know I'm adept at them but hey I can dream right? After finishing all the books, it was time for lunch.

During lunch I discussed with the elder about the spells available to me due to my level and what the best course of action. I was honest with the elder, I don't see myself as the hero of the story, I don't think I'm destined to save or change this world, save a princess from the evil overlord boss or change the tides of war, far from it; I will however save a person if I can, help a town if I have the means, but besides that I would really just go around the world sightseeing.

The elder smiled at me and told me that nothing more was expected of me but what I wanted to do, so if I was happy doing that then so be it, they won't force me to do anything.

After that chat, it was decided that I was to learn "Heal" and "Water barrier" from the water element, "Fireball" from fire, "Wind slash" from the wind and "Stone skin" from earth. Even if they were simple spells if I could master them I will easily reach level 10 when I could learn advanced spells.

Thanks to my [Learn] skill, after a few tries I learned them. The constant practice almost depleted my (MP), when I'm traveling in the future I will have to watch closely my use of spells because there is a finite number of elixirs I can't carry, not even mentioning buying.

"Heal" seems very straightforward so I don't think there is a need to modify it, at least for now. "Water Barrier" in the other hand can be improved, it is a magical force protective field; however it just disperses the magical power of the enemy in the water instead of using it to keep powering itself. As I try to use "Decompile" more hieroglyphs that with "Identify" pop up, since this is more complicated it makes sense. I almost forgot to take out my pencil, once I started going through the symbols I started to think why only magical attacks got blocked, why if it could also block physical attack.

There seem to be a way to make the spell do just that however there is something I can't fully grasp on how to do it, maybe I need more magical power to make the change, or to cast the resulting spell that I can't learn it, other option might be that the {learning points} I have right now are not enough yet or it might be something as simple as that missing component is from another; I good idea hit me, why I don't I write down the shapes as I learned them from the different spells, maybe I can find some pattern which make my "Compile" and "Decompile" spells more effective, even if it doesn't at least I can use those shapes to create new spells.

As I was going to ask the elder for a piece of paper to start taking down the shapes, the pencil glow a dark blue color and suddenly change shape into a big book, it was empty at first and then the hieroglyphs from "Identify" appeared, then the ones for "Examine" and finally the ones for "Water Barrier", there were some notes about the spell and its effects, also some highlight about what I had inferred about each shape, this is no new information it is what I have learned or at least assumed so far, so I guess it is based on my knowledge.

Then as fast as it had change into the book form the pencil form reappeared however the information regarding the spells and the symbols that make them was as clear on my mind as it was when I saw it wrote down, it appears as if whatever is written in the book form of my tool gets memorized by me, well I have to admit this tool become less useless the more I use it.

I gather my thoughts and go back to improving the "Water barrier" spell, I still can't change it to cover physical attacks but what had just happened proves to me that in the future there is the possibility I could make it happen.

Well let's try going back to my original plan, adding the ability for the shield to absorb the magical power used against it to keep it powered. Decompiling "Water barrier" again, I can find the place where I should modify to achieve this, however another issue raises, like when I tried to add physical defense the possibility is there but something is missing. If my theory is correct what I'm missing is the absorption of magical power which I don't yet know how to do.

I ask the elder about spell that have that component, he tells me there are a couple but all of them are level 10 or above, so there are not an option. I inquiry about a minorum, certainly there should be something for that purpose; as I asked that I also wonder if there is a minorum for healing too not just an spell for it.

The elder tells me to grab a book named "minorum for the non-wizards" which I assume is this world's version of the for dummies series, it would be easier for me to learn as many minorum as I can while I am at it. That is assuming I still got enough [Learning Points] available, I have to figure out how to get [Learning Points] as they will become crucial to my "Decompile" and "Compile" spells.

As I grab the copy of the book the elder recommended me, I noticed an old crumpled book, it looks like it was badly put together and there are sheets coming out and some are oddly sticking from it. I don't know why I'm attracted to it, however I also grabbed and tuck it in my pocket for further reading.

When I try returning to my desk, the librarian tells me it is time to close the library, I guess I'll have to come tomorrow and continue with the minorum. Without thinking I left the library with the old crumpled book in my pocket.